Overview

Inflationary pressures are rising in Latin America. The floating of the bolivar in Venezuela on February 13th may increase inflation, which was 12.3% in the year to January. In Brazil, inflation rose to 9.8% over the same period.

Inflation is even higher in Russia, where consumer prices jumped by 3.1% in January, the biggest increase in three years. The 12-month rate edged up to 19.2%.

There were mixed signals over industrial production. In Malaysia, output picked up by 2.1% in December, although this still left it 7.7% lower than a year earlier. However, in Mexico, industrial production fell in December for the 11th successive month, leaving it 3.6% lower than a year previously.